Pokies Safety and Internet Security

It has been many years now since I have heard anyone having a bad experience playing pokies online. Though back in 2012 there were a few shady casinos taking advantage of people the stories since then have been few and far between. So the short answer to the question “are they safe” is a resounding yes. That said there is one big caveat, you will only fully reduce your chances of being taken advantage of to zero if you stick to playing with the large, time tested and reputable online casinos. 100% safety is assured when playing in the casinos we recommend, so here is our current top choice with a $1000 AUD sign up bonus.

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However if you still require further info about online gaming security, below we have outlined some of the key things you can do as a player to ensure you are with a reputable casino, that way you don’t have to take our word for it.

We understand that it’s easy to move into ‘the zone’ when you enter a casino. Your peripheral vision greys out, your mind is calculating possibilities, the clock seems to stop, race ahead and melt off the wall all at once … it’s a good feeling! However, in a real life casino and in online pokies, focusing only on your game to the exclusion of everything else can be dangerous. Smash the walls of your tunnel vision and enjoy your online pokies even more with the protection of these internet security tips made especially for online pokies sites.

First and foremost SSL. This is the certificate that ensures your payments will be processed securely and make it impossible for anyone else to see the information that is being processed between you and the casino. Here are the most popular SSL certification symbols, note that all the casinos we recommend have been verified to use one of these reputable companies:

The second most important indication of reputation is the presence of a secure payment processing system. Due to the difficulty in receiving authorisation into these accredited payment gateways it is very difficult for shady folk to get access. Below is a list of the more predominant payment systems in Australia:

More advanced yet still very effective ways to identify trustworthy online pokies:

Avoid Shady Online Casinos
Dark alleys, dirty walls and shady corners tell you that a real-life gambling establishment might not be the most secure place to be. You can train yourself quite easily to see the online equivalent of a ‘back alley slothouse’ … and avoid it!

Click like the wind away from online casinos that:

• Don’t have a security padlock symbol or a web address beginning with ‘https’ on pages where you must enter financial information
• Are poorly designed, written with obvious non-native English or have many spelling and grammar errors
• Don’t have a current security certificate (your browser security or firewall software should warn you)
• Have an unknown base domain name, but contain the name of a well-known online pokies or online casino site in the latter part of the address.

Choose Safe, Respected Casino Websites
Some of the best established online casinos safe for Australian players include:

• Betway
• Cabaret Club
• Mummy’s Gold
• Ruby Fortune
• Spin Palace

Play With Australian Dollars
If your online casino site accepts Australian dollars, it already does substantial trade with Australian gamblers. If there had been serious problems with the site already, it would be known across the web. While acceptance of Aussie dollars isn’t a guarantee of safety, it’s a good sign.

Accessing Online Casinos Safely
Never access your favourite online casino through a link in an email - whether you were expecting the mail or not. Always access your favourite site through a link from a trusted website hosted in Australia, or by typing the domain directly into your browser address bar.

Use a Debit Card
You should already have a debit card for online shopping. These cards, issued by Visa and Mastercard, can be used exactly as a credit card would with online shops. However, the card is linked to a savings account instead of a credit account, so anybody that manages to get hold of your card number will have very little payout.

Load only as much money as you plan to play with onto your debit card at one time. This will help keep you safe, and also help you stick to your pre-set gaming limits.

Use Wired Internet
If possible, you should play your online pokies games through a wired internet connection. If this isn’t possible, make sure your wifi connection is secured.

Update Your Computer’s Protection
You should have one main firewall and anti-virus program issued by a respected vendor such as McAfee, Norton, Zonelabs or Sophos. You should additionally have two or three anti-spyware programs, such as Spyware Doctor, AdAware, Malware Bytes or any of the other free offerings available through Cnet.

Update the software regularly, schedule your scans to run weekly or bi-weekly, and never believe a pop-up message that tells you to download a ‘free spyware scanner’ - these are inevitably spyware themselves!

Stay safe on the internet, and keep your money for having fun with online pokies … don’t donate it to the Nigerian princesses!

In closing, I would like to say that should you or anyone you know feel they have been ripped off in any way by an online casino or pokie machine, please get in contact with us immediately and tell us about it, though we think it is unlikely to happen and we know it is impossible on our casinos we will still be more than happy to assist you in every way we can, after all we do have over 10 years of experience in the pokie game market online.